


This Could Be Delightful

by S_tranded



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Dark Mark (Harry Potter), Desi Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy is Bad at Feelings, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Flashbacks, Fluff, Hogwarts Eighth Year, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Draco Malfoy, Roommates, Self-Esteem Issues, Slow Burn, and they were ROOMMATES, mentions death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2021-01-21 13:09:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21299969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/S_tranded/pseuds/S_tranded
Summary: [Currently on Hiatus]
Relationships: Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Comments: 1
Kudos: 26





	1. Back On the Train

Draco, sitting on the train to Hogwarts, was having second doubts about returning to the school. Only now, as he was actually going to the school, did he start having these doubts. He fidgets with his sleeves, as he looks out the window next to him, watching the landscape pass by. 

It wasn't like he would be doing much else, and he needed to take his N.E.W.T.s, so he could potentially find a decent job instead of taking care of his mother, who was pretty much on house arrest for the next few years. 

Hogwarts had given the previous seventh year students the chance to retake the year- due to the interruptions of the war from the year prior. Students were also given the chance to take their N.E.W.T.s, but Draco knew he wouldn’t pass them. Even though they aren’t necessary to get into a good occupation it was preferred, and he knew this. He also couldn’t get a job based off of reputation, as that had been smashed to smithereens. 

Therefore Draco had decided to go in for his eighth year at Hogwarts. He didn't know how many of the other students had decided to do the same, or even who had to return to the school. He knew Pansy wasn’t returning, she was off doing ‘things’ as she had said in her last owl to him.

During the long trip, he watches the first and second year students run past him, shouting, excited and he smiles. He remembers when he was a bundle of nerves, riding the train, teaming up with Crabbe and Goyle. Meeting Pansy. Getting put into house Slytherin. Seeing the common rooms and dorms. 

He had some fond memories of his past years of schooling, but he grimaces thinking of all the times he was a bully and was terrible to other people. Although, it was mainly pointed towards Potter.

He was so young and when he knew who he was, he wanted to impress the boy, as he was _ the boy who lived _. 

But Draco did it in the exactly wrong way, sliding immediately onto Potter’s bad side. Potter instead became friends with Weasley and Granger, who, at the time, he thought were inferior. Therefore he, young and dumb, became spiteful. He regrets this, because Potter wasn't actually the worst person.

Draco runs his hand over his covered forearm, looking out the window. _ Yeah, Potter wasn't the worst one out of the two of us. _

He eventually falls asleep on the trip, only to be woken up by some third year yelling about something. He steps out of his coach to see what was going on, but everyone stops what they were doing and looks at him when he did.

Draco knew that he was known and that him coming back to Hogwarts may not have the most positive response from the students, but he wasn’t expecting _ this. _ He would rather have people saying something to him, or have them tell him he was a bad person or just _ something. _

He felt everyone’s gaze on him and felt the pressure to do something. Something to break the silence. He pulls one of his sleeves, the air he was breathing feeling heavier than it was moments before. He walks down the aisle, down to the witch with her food cart. The old woman smiles seeing him approach.

"Hello, Mister Malfoy. What would you like today, dear?" she asks kindly, her eyes twinkling. 

"Some tea and a chocolate frog if you have any more, please." He fishes some sickles out of his pocket, and hands them over to her. She checks the change and then pockets it.

"Alright. Any sugar or cream for you? Or simply just black tea?" 

He thinks it over for a moment. "Two of each, please." 

She nods and the tea, sugar & cream floats through the air into the cup. She rummages through the cart and hands him the packaged chocolate frog. 

"Here you go dear, enjoy."

He nods. "Thank you, ma'am." He then takes the items and then walks back. A couple students looks at him wearily, but otherwise people kept doing what they had been doing.

When he gets back to his coach, he sets the tea down and unwraps the chocolate frog. It leaps out of the package onto the empty chair in front of him, where it hopped around until the animation charm wore off. 

He looks at the collectible card. It was Minerva McGonagall. He quickly skimmed the information on the card, but he faltered on the words “Current Headmistress of Hogwarts.” 

_ It would only make sense. _McGonagall was a very capable witch, so it would make sense that she would take over for Dumbledore. She was also one of the professors who have stayed and taught at Hogwarts the longest.

He watched as her image left the front of the card, then tucked it into one of his bags. That’s when he remembered he needed to change into his robes. He closed the curtains and drapes to his compartment, and quickly changed into his robes, leaving a long sleeve shirt underneath. 

He zips up the bag, and watches out the window, watching the train getting closer to the final destination.


	2. Some New News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Battle of Hogwarts was rough on the Castle and she needs some more recovery time.

Once Draco gets into castle, he takes a seat at the Slytherin table, not seeing many other eight year students of his house besides himself. 

He notices that out of all of the tables, Slytherin is the most quiet, the students not really speaking to one another except a couple whispered lines being exchanged between one another. There was an air of awkwardness and guilt from the last year surrounding the Slytherins, which Draco finds rather suffocating. 

Soon, one of the professors, a new one in which Draco wasn’t familiar with, steps up with a long parchment and the sorting hat, with the first years behind him. All of the second through eighth years turn to see who was to be sorted into each house. Draco claps with the rest of his house whenever a new first year joins the table.

The sorting ceremony seemed to be shorter than usual, which was probably due to the recent events at the school which has parents not wanting to send their children to Hogwarts. Draco didn’t really see much sense in this, as there was no longer a dark lord walking around threatening children or a war going on anymore. 

Yet, after he thought about it for a minute, it did make some sort of sense because his own mother had him go to Hogwarts because it was closer to the Manor. It was that parental paranoia.

After the sorting, Headmistress Mcgonagall stood up addressing the school. She clears her throat before she speaks and she smiles.

"I would like to say welcome to all of our new first years as well as a welcome back to everyone else. I know last year had rather… extenuating circumstances that we have all been affected by, and for some of us it will be for a long time. With this, the castle is still has some undergoing construction." 

There is a gush of whispers from the students. Mcgonagall clears her throat, which hushes the crowd.

"Because of this, one of our dormitories has not been finished and is not suitable for our students. That would be the Gryffindor wing." 

Students look at one another, exchanging uncertain and nervous glances to one another. 

"So, we have decided that we are going to have the Gryffindors room with the other houses equally." This caused an uproar from the Gryffindor table. The Headmistress glared at them and most of them settled down, which Draco found it amusing that she still had such a strong effect on the loud students. 

"You will only have to endure this until we have the dorms fixed, which can take up to the year. But I believe that this is a great opportunity for our school to bond a bit better together instead of being a building with four houses. Now-" She looks around her and then pulls a small bit of parchment from the air. "This is how you will be sorted. It'll be by surname. So, if your last name begins with A through H, you will be with the Ravenclaws."

At this point she was only addressing the Gryffindors, so Draco took his attention off of her, zoning out for the moment looking around his own table. He recognized some of the seventh and sixth year students, besides the returning eighth years- which there was only a handful of them. He wasn't close to any of them, though, so he didn't bother trying to get anyone's attention with a wave or anything else.

His eyes wander around the entire room, and he spots Luna Lovegood sitting content with her house, drawing into some book. He then sees Neville Longbottom, which surprises Draco, as he didn't expect the boy to return. He looked as if he lost a chunk of weight since Draco had last year, and gained some muscle- to which Draco raises his eyebrows at. He must've been working out.

He then sees a nest of curly black hair adorning a very familiar face.  _ Potter. _ Out of all the people Draco expected to return, he was the last one. Potter must have had some traumatic experiences at the school, so Draco wouldn't have expected for the other boy to return to the place he had probably some of his worst life experiences at. Draco stares for a moment, still taking in the fact that  _ Harry Potter  _ has returned to Hogwarts. Everyone suddenly clapping and hollering snapped Draco out of his stupor. Mcgonagall had taken her seat, and the students around him had started to eat. 

_ Did I really zone out for that long? _ Draco questions himself as he eats roll he had grabbed earlier and put on his plate. He ate dinner as he watches the other Slytherins warm up and start to talk to one another, smiling and cracking jokes and telling stories. He was happy to see his house happy again, something he hadn't seen the past couple years due to people blaming them for Death Eaters and accusing them all for being Death Eaters as well. The other houses had made them the villains of course, therefore they kept their heads low most of the time.

The prefect, who was a girl this year with stark red hair, led the first years to the dungeons as the rest of the other Slytherins lagged a bit behind. 

"Who is the new head of house?" One of the boys near Draco asked one of his friends. 

"I hear they got Slughorn to be head this year, although that's just a rumour so who knows." Another boy responds with. 

Draco wasn't sure on the Slughorn idea, but it wasn't too far fetched. The man was getting pretty old, though, so he should honestly be retiring. Not getting another extremely high stress job. But as they approached the commons, he could hear Slughorn speaking.

When the elder Slytherins reached the commons the first years and the small group of Gryffindors that were staying with them were already there. 

"Oh good, is everyone here? I gave the Gryffindors their room assignments, and some of them are already in the rooms. Just so everyone knows, years one through three will be staying in their respective dormitories, but all of the rest get rooms, which is one of the perks with being in the dungeons." The older man winks to them all and Draco smiles slightly.

"Anyhow, all of you get to your rooms, your first day starts early tomorrow." He then turns and leaves the rest of them to their own devices. 

"Well, that was quick." One of the fifth years commented aloud. They all looked at one another, feeling the absence of Snape equally. He usually gave a speech to his house before letting them loose to do as they need. Snape may have been strict, but he had been their Head of House for most of their time at Hogwarts, and most of his students cared for him at some base level. Like a parent you may get in fights with or don't like all of the time but you still care for because they are your parent. 

They all disperse fairly quickly after that, Draco walking to his own room. It was a fairly large room. So if he had a roommate, it shouldn't be a big deal as it could easily hold four people comfortably. Two people shouldn't be a noticeable change.

When he gets to his door, he stops and realizes that pretty much any Gryffindor whose last name doesn't start with A could be behind this door. They could hate him. They also could not know him. Then again this won't be some sort first year, and it wasn't like he wasn't  _ unknown _ . They would've been living under a rock if they didn't know who he was. It's the reputation you earn when you try to bully the school's most popular student. 

So he knew three things. Their last name does not start with A. They are a Gryffindor. They probably knew that he was a person of some sort. This uncertainty made Draco not want to enter his room. It was  _ his  _ room and he was not wanting to go in. He could just go to the commons and explain he was up late reading or something and that's why he didn't sleep in his room. Then again, his clothes and other things were in this room. And he was to be damned if he was not going to take a shower. He takes a deep breath and puts a smile as he walks  _ through _ the door-it was charmed to know who was to go through it, it also eliminated the need for a key or doorknob as if a person belonged in the room, they could get into it just by passing through the door but otherwise it was as solid as brick- and starts to say "Hello." But the word dies in his mouth and his smile fades as he stares into the pure green eyes which were staring right back at Draco. 

Oh. Draco's new roommate 100% knew who Draco was. And that was not a fact to be proud of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My notes are being weird but hey. 
> 
> Anyhow, have fun with the oggling and intense eye contact. :) 
> 
> Have a good day you all! <3


	3. Bruises and Bloody Noses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unintentional violence is the best violence.

_ Harry Potter. _

Both boys stand where they are and they both take in the fact that the other is his roommate. Eventually Draco broke the silence with a simple “Good evening,” and Potter returns the phrase back to Draco.

They both start unpacking, putting their clothes and other items in their respective places. During this entire excruciatingly silent time, Draco’s train of thought bounces around his head, causing any of the leftover paranoia and anxiety about this year to skyrocket. 

Did Slughorn plan this? Was this random? Did the professors somehow think that putting the actual  _ Harry Potter,  _ with an Ex Quasi Death Eater a good idea? No wonder people weren't sending their children to Hogwarts. Does this look good on this book case or do I need to rearrange the entire thing? What would Potter think? Why do I care what Potter thinks? How was the year going to play out with Potter of all people his roommate? Was sleeping on the couch still a viable option at this point? He still needs to take a shower. 

With that he looks up from the ground, as he has been very interested in things such as the wooden grain of the floor or the wallpaper patterns and with not making eye contact with Potter. With Draco's newfound ability to not stare at the ground, he notices that he is on the wrong side of the room, so he turns around quickly, causing him to smack right into Potter. He jolts backward quickly running his thigh into a corner of the wooden night table behind him, and he winces in pain. 

“Bloody hell, Malfoy!” Potter exclaims aloud, holding his nose in pain. 

“Sorry Potter, didn’t see you.” Draco says meekly, not really knowing what to do or say in this situation. Potter removes his hand from his face, revealing the fact that he had a bloody nose. 

“You’re bleeding.” Harry glares at Draco with his piercing green eyes, which made Draco feel very small in that moment. 

“Well no shit, Malfoy. I can still see colors with my glasses off.” With that Potter grabs his glasses off of his bed, and storms past Draco, across the room then into the bathroom. Draco stands for a moment, taking in what just happened and feels a dull pain pulsing in his leg where he had bumped it earlier.  _ It is probably a bruise forming. _ He decides to check it later when he is in the shower. 

He finishes unpacking, waiting for Potter to leave the bathroom. Draco tidies the room, for the most part, with the exclusion of not touching Potter’s items, not wanting to irk the other boy than what he already had. 

“How could I be so careless?” He says in a quiet tone to himself while sorting the books on the stand alphabetically by the authors’ surnames. “I should have been watching where I was going.” 

_ Did I break Potter’s nose? _ He then thinks and looks at the closed bathroom door. Potter has had been in there for a long time. 

Draco heard a thud from the bathroom and became more concerned about his erratic roommate. He stands up and knocks on the door. “Potter, you alright in there?” He asked, yelling slightly, as so he could be heard through the door. The door swings open, Potter’s hair looking more disheveled than it was already was before, and a streak a blood right above his mouth. Potter looks angry. 

“Couldn’t wait for your turn Malfoy?” He snapped.

Draco crosses his arms defensively. “I just heard a loud noise, I was just wondering if you are alright. I didn’t want to have to drag your unconscious body to Madam Pomfrey’s because you slipped or something, Potter.” 

“I’m fine Malfoy, bug off.” And with that Potter brushes past Draco, leaving the bathroom. Draco huffs and turns to grab his night clothes, which is just a pair of trousers and a simple black long sleeve that he usually wears casually. But he didn’t want to just have his dark mark on display for Potter to see, even if the boy probably knows that Draco has one. 

Draco takes his time in the shower. Checking his leg, he does see a rather small bruise forming where he had earlier rammed himself into the corner of the nightstand. Even though it is only the size of Draco’s thumb, it is still very tender and hurt to press. 

Once he leaves the shower, he’s sure that he had been there for at least an hour and is surprised to see Potter still up, who was writing what was to be assumed is a letter. Potter is completely absorbed in his task to insult Draco and Draco was relieved he wasn’t going to be further berated by his roommate. 

Draco sees that it is already midnight and decides to just go to sleep, using nox to turn off the closest lights to himself, leaving Potter sufficient lighting to see while writing. He falls asleep and has a dreamless sleep. 

The next morning Draco wakes up easily, seeing that he got up early enough to still get breakfast and have some time to spare before his first class. It also helped that he didn’t have an early morning class, as he did his fifth through seventh years. He gets dressed in his robes, and notices that Potter is still asleep in his bed. 

“Potter wake up.” Draco throws a pillow at him. 

Potter bolts up in his bed, looking panicked, his wand in his hand. Potter seems to relax slowly, realizing his surroundings, and lowers his wand. He rubs his eyes and grasps for his glass, which were laying on the other pillow. Draco finds it weird that Potter either put his glasses on the pillow instead of a nightstand or sleeps with his glasses on. Once Potter slips his glasses on he retreats back into bed, either to sleep again or just lay there. Either way Draco feels his stomach protest against the lack of food he currently has. 

Draco leaves Harry to go to the dining hall where most of the students have already left, only a couple of handfuls left eating still. Draco eats, quietly watching the last few students finish their food and leave. At this point Potter still hadn’t shown for breakfast, which means that he is still sleeping, so Draco grabs a couple of napkins and wraps some toast and some other foods into it. 

_ Hopefully this makes up for the bloody nose I accidentally gave him last night. _ He thinks as he walks back to the dungeons and puts the food on the nightstand next to where Potter was still sleeping. 

Draco leaves for his first class, leaving Potter to his own devices. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeehaw. Thanks for reading!! <3

**Author's Note:**

> I know this was short, and there isn't any interaction, but I promise there will be more in the next chapter.  
Love you all! <3


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